Toy machine gun



Nov. 21,1950

5. BERGER TOY MACHINE GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 8, 1946 mmmmm I mm "mai m g; l im mm 3% H mm 5| a flrILl mm 8 E lNvNToR Samuellfierger BY WM Nov. 21, 1950 s. 1. BERGER TOY MACHINE GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May a, 1946 Y I Ag ATTO R N EYS Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY MACHINE GUN Samuel I. Berger, Newark, N. J.

Application May 8, 1946, Serial No. 668,290

8 Claims.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a toy machine gun of light, rugged and inexpensive construction which is realistic by simulating in operation, the clatter of the gun, the flash at the muzzle and the illusion of the shell feed and any or all of said actions, which toy gun is easy to manufacture and which in use is not likely to cause injury to the child.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the toy,

Fig. 2 is a top elevation thereof,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on a larger scale taken on line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on a larger scale taken on line4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 3,

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line l'| of Fig. 4,

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the gun may comprise a body II] which is a casing composed of two complementary sheet metal stampings, each forming an outline which includes the stock I I. The two complementary pieces are assembled together by crimping the edge l2 of one about the angle formation IS on the other to form a seam. The barrel I4 is made of a single piece of sheet metal corrugated at l to simulate the cooling vanes, uncorrugated at its front or nozzle [6, and provided with side pieces ll unitary therewith and extending downward therefrom. The rear edge of the barrel unit is crimped to the forward edge of the body unit as at l8 by a seam similar to that above described.

The toy incorporates a clapper to simulate the sound, a pyrophoric unit to simulate the flash and means to simulate the visual appearance of the feeding shells. All three of these members are preferably operated from a single spring motor incorporated in the construction.

In a preferred construction the spring motor is of more or less conventional construction and comprises a frame 20 disposed in the body of the gun, wholly to the rear of the barrel and preferably directly in back of the barrel and adjacent thereto. The spring motor includes a coil spring 2] within its cylindrical shell 22 wound by a key 23 on the exterior of the body, with the conventional winding pawl and ratchet (not shown).

The gear 24 on the shell 22 meshes with a pinion 25 on countershaft 26 which countershaft also 5 carries a gear 2'! which in turn meshes with pin ion 28 on a second countershaft 29 which carries a crown gear 30. This crown gear serves as the drive for the flash simulation which will be described hereinafter.

The motor also includes a gear 3! on countershaft 32 and preferably meshing directly with gear 24, said countershaft desirably carrying both the clapper actuating ratchet wheel 33 and the cam 34 which operates the shell feed simu- 1 lating member, both of which will be described below.

The flash simulation Flash simulation is effected by abrasive wheel 35 driven from the spring motor and a pyrophoric tip or flint 36 riding on the periphery thereof. The abrasive wheel is keyed upon an axle 31 splined to form a pinion cross section, which axle bears in sheet metal standards 38 clinched by tabs 39 to the closure plate 40 bridging across the lower edges of the side walls I! of the barrel and held thereto by tines 4|. The flint 36 is riveted to a sheet metal strip 42 with a bent-out heel 43 extending through a corresponding slot in the upper part of the muzzle l6 and with an end tongue 44 overlapping the muzzle and loosely supporting the arm 42.

The transmission from the crown gear 30 of the motor to the abrasive wheel is by way 05 of a drive rod 45, hearing at one end in an arm 46 turned inward from the wall of the motor frame 20 and bearing at its opposite end in the upper part of cross-plate 4! bridging between and preferably integral with the standards 30. By reason of the length of the drive rod, an intermediate bearing is also preferred, which comprises a plate 48 bridging between and therefore also tending to stiffen the side walls I! and having tabs 49 through corresponding slits in 5 said walls, the rod resting in a notch 50 in the upper edge of said plate.

e Ailixed to the rear end of the drive rod 45 is a pinion 5| which meshes with the crown gear 30 and to the forward extremity of said rod beyond 50 the bearing 41 thereof is keyed the hub 52 of a crown pinion 53 meshing with the splined shaft 31.

The clatter simulation The clatter producing member is a short leaf of spring steel 54 riveted as at 55 to the under face of the upper wall of the body at the rearward end of the barrel with a heel piece 56 normally against said wall, the rear part of said leaf being downturned at 51 and having an outturned extremity 58 in the path of the teeth illustratively five in number of the ratchet wheel 33.

The shell feed simuZation The shell feed simulation is efiected by a slide plate 59 within the body of the gun, preferably directly under the top wall thereof. Said slide plate has lithographed thereon the simulation 60 of a shell in appropriate color, the area in back of said shell being preferably lithographed black as at Bl. The top of the body has a window 52 therein of length somewhat greater than that of the shell to expose the movement thereof to view. The slide is affixed against the top wall of the body by means of tines 63 laterally embracing the edges thereof. The forward end of the slide has a downturned heel piece 64 coacting with the cam 34. That cam, which as above noted is preferably on the same shaft with the clapper actuating ratchet wheel 33, is a bar with its ends rounded as at 34'. A coil spring 65 anchored at one end to the slide and at the other to the motor frame 20, normally urges the slide into engagement with the cam.

The brake The motor is normally restrained by a brake comprising preferably a sheet metal pawl 56 pivoted by a rivet 61 to the side wall of the motor frame 20 and having a pawl tongue 68 which meshes with the pinion 5 I, as best shown in Fig. 5. The pawl is retained in such meshing position by a flexed wire 69 pivoted at m at its forward end to the lower end of the pawl, extending the length of the body and reacting at its opposite end against the back wall IQ of the body. Release of the motor and operation of the toy is effected by a trigger H comprising a bar pivotally anchored at its upper end by means of a key head 12 through a corresponding slot in the top wall of the unit and having its trigger end 1 I exposed for operation through a trigger slot 323 in the body, the wire 61 extending through an aperture in said trigger bar, slightly above the trigger and having flats 14 against which the trigger bar presses.

Operation While the operation is more or less obvious from the foregoing description, it will be briefly set forth.

The motor being wound, the gun is operated by pulling the trigger H, which through the wire 69 releases the pawl 66 from the pinion 5!. The spring motor therefore drives the crown gear 30 at fairly high speed and through the pinion 5| drives rod 45 and through crown pinion 53 spins the abrasive wheel 35 so that the flint 36 riding thereon generates sparks which are propelled outward through the muzzle I 6, giving the simu' lation of a flash.

The clapper ratchet wheel 33 driven from the motor alternatively pushes the clapper leaf 54 downward, drawing its root 56 away from the barrel wall and upon quick release thereof, causing it to strike said wall with the clatter desired.

The round ended cam 34 on the same shaft 32 pushes the slide 59 rearward by engagement thereof with the heel piece 54 and against the resistance of coil spring 65 for rapid return forward by said coil spring as the rounded end of the cam releases the heel piece. Thus the simulation 60 of the shell on the slide is rapidly reciprocated forward and backward, creating the illusion of the feed of the shell.

Upon release of the trigger l' I, the spring wire 69 pushes the pawl 66 back into engagement with the pinion 5| and brakes the motor pending subsequent operation.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope'of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A toy machine gun comprising a sheet metal body having a barrel at the front thereof, a spring motor wholly within said body and wholly to the rear of said barrel, a slide within said body along a wall thereof and bearing the representation of a sh ll thereon, a window in the corresponding wall of said body exposing said shell to view, and a cam driven by said motor and coacting with said slide for longitudinal reciprocation thereof.

2. A toy machine gun comprising a body, a barrel at the forward end thereof, a spring motor in said body adjacent to said barrel and to the rear thereof, a slide along the upper wall of said body having the representation of a shell thereon, a window in the upper wall of the body exposing said shell to view, a spring urging said slide longitudinally forward and a cam piece driven from said motor to push said slide backward after each spring return thereof.

3. The combination recited in claim 2 in which the cam is a bar with rounded ends and the slide has a downturned heel piece coacting with said cam, and a coil spring anchored to said body at one end and to the slide at the other snaps the slide forward after each cam action thereon.

4. A toy machine gun comprising a sheet metal body, a barrel at the forward end thereof, a spring metal clapper leaf riveted to the upper wall of said body near the rear end of said barrel, the root end of said clapper being normally in engagement with said body and the free end being turned obliquely downward therefrom with its extremity extending horizontally outward, a slide in said body along the upper wall thereof and having the representation of a shell thereon, said shell being exposed to view through a correspond ing window opening in the upper wall of the body, and means for simultaneously actuating the clapper and rapidly reciprocating said slide, said means comprising a spring motor in the forward part of the body wholly to the rear of the barrel, a shaft driven by said motor, said shaft having a ratchet wheel thereon, the teeth of which ride over the free end of the clapper arm, said shaft also having a cam thereon, riding over the forward end of the slide intermittently to push the slide rearwardly and a coil spring connecting the slide to the body and effecting the advance stroke of the slide after each cam retraction thereof.

5. A toy machine gun comprising a sheet metal body, a barrel at the front thereof having a muzzle, a flint pivotally mounted in the upper wall of the muzzle and in contact with an abrasive wheel mounted in said muzzle near said flint, a slide mounted in the body near the rear end thereof and having the representation of a shell thereon, exposed to view through a corresponding window in the upper wall of the body, means for simultaneously generating sparks from said flint at the muzzle and rapidly reciprocating the slide to simulate the feed of shells, said means comprising a spring motor in the forward end of the body near the barrel, said motor comprising a train of gears including a crown gear, a drive rod having a pinion at its rear end meshing with said crown gear and extending forward along the barrel for driving the abrasive wheel, said wheel having a pinion shaft rigid therewith and a crown pinion at the forward end of said rod meshing with said pinion, said spring motor also having a driven shaft with a cam thereon, said slide having a heel piece rigid therewith, and a coil spring connecting the slide to the body and urging the slide against the cam.

6. A toy machine gun comprising a sheet metal body having a barrel at the front thereof, a clapper to simulate the sound of a machine gun, a flint and associated. abrasive wheel at the muzzle end of the barrel to simulate the flash of the gun and a reciprocating slide bearing the representation of a shell exposed to view through the body to simulate the feed of the shells, common operating means for the clapper, the flint actuating abrasive wheel and the shell carrying slide, said operating means being a spring motor mounted in the forward end of the body wholly to the rear of the barrel, a pawl coacting with said train for braking the motor, a trigger for releasing the pawl, said motor having a driven shaft, a ratchet wheel on said shaft for actuating the clapper, a cam on said shaft for actuating the slide, said motor having a train of gears including a crown gear, a drive rod extending from said crown gear lengthwise of the barrel to said abrasive wheel,

said rod'having hearings in the body near the forward and rear ends thereof, a pinion at the rear end of said rod coacting with said crown gear, a pinion coaxial and rigid with the abrasive wheel, and a crown pinion at the forward end of said rod coacting with said latter pinion.

'7. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the ratchet wheel actuated clapper comprises a spring metal blade riveted near one end to the upper wall of th body near the rear of the barrel, the root end of said blade being normally against the wall of the body, said clapper blade being inclined downward, the extremity of said blade extending rearward in the path of the ratchet wheel.

8. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the shell feed simulating slide has a heel piece bent downward and in which the cam is a round ended plate engaging said heel piece and in which a coil spring anchored at one end to the slide and at the other to the body effects the advance of the slide plate after deflection by the cam.

SAMUEL I. BERGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,055,848 Marx Sept. 29, 1936 2,097,749 Wade Nov. 2, 1937 2,117,597 Berger May 17, 1938 2,122,467 Heppner July 5, 1938 2,405,341 Binks Aug. 6, 1946 

